Description

Introductory Notes

The Process and Product Quality Assurance process area involves the following activities:

Objectively evaluating performed processes and work products against applicable process descriptions, standards, and procedures

Identifying and documenting noncompliance issues

Providing feedback to project staff and managers on the results of quality assurance activities

Ensuring that noncompliance issues are addressed

The Process and Product Quality Assurance process area supports the delivery of high-quality products by providing project staff and managers at all levels with appropriate visibility into, and feedback on, processes and associated work products throughout the life of the project.

The practices in the Process and Product Quality Assurance process area ensure that planned processes are implemented, while the practices in the Verification process area ensure that specified requirements are satisfied. These two process areas can on occasion address the same work product but from different perspectives. Projects should take advantage of the overlap to minimize duplication of effort while taking care to maintain separate perspectives.

Objectivity in process and product quality assurance evaluations is critical to the success of the project. (See the definition of “objectively evaluate” in the glossary.) Objectivity is achieved by both independence and the use of criteria. A combination of methods providing evaluations against criteria by those who do not produce the work product is often used. Less formal methods can be used to provide broad day-to-day coverage. More formal methods can be used periodically to assure objectivity.

Examples of ways to perform objective evaluations include the following:

In-depth review of work at the place it is performed (i.e., desk audits)

Distributed review and comment of work products

Process checks built into the processes such as a fail-safe for processes when they are done incorrectly (e.g., Poka-Yoke)

Traditionally, a quality assurance group that is independent of the project provides objectivity. However, another approach may be appropriate in some organizations to implement the process and product quality assurance role without that kind of independence.

For example, in an organization with an open, quality oriented culture, the process and product quality assurance role can be performed, partially or completely, by peers and the quality assurance function can be embedded in the process. For small organizations, this embedded approach might be the most feasible approach.

If quality assurance is embedded in the process, several issues should be addressed to ensure objectivity. Everyone performing quality assurance activities should be trained in quality assurance. Those who perform quality assurance activities for a work product should be separate from those who are directly involved in developing or maintaining the work product. An independent reporting channel to the appropriate level of organizational management should be available so that noncompliance issues can be escalated as necessary.

For example, when implementing peer reviews as an objective evaluation method, the following issues should be addressed:

Members are trained and roles are assigned for people attending the peer reviews.

A member of the peer review who did not produce this work product is assigned to perform the quality assurance role.

Checklists based on process descriptions, standards, and procedures are available to support the quality assurance activity.

Noncompliance issues are recorded as part of the peer review report and are tracked and escalated outside the project when necessary.

Quality assurance should begin in the early phases of a project to establish plans, processes, standards, and procedures that will add value to the project and satisfy the requirements of the project and organizational policies. Those who perform quality assurance activities participate in establishing plans, processes, standards, and procedures to ensure that they fit project needs and that they will be usable for performing quality assurance evaluations. In addition, processes and associated work products to be evaluated during the project are designated. This designation can be based on sampling or on objective criteria that are consistent with organizational policies, project requirements, and project needs.

When noncompliance issues are identified, they are first addressed in the project and resolved there if possible. Noncompliance issues that cannot be resolved in the project are escalated to an appropriate level of management for resolution.

This process area applies to evaluations of project activities and work products, and to organizational (e.g., process group, organizational training) activities and work products. For organizational activities and work products, the term “project” should be appropriately interpreted.

In Agile environments, teams tend to focus on immediate needs of the iteration rather than on longer term and broader organizational needs. To ensure that objective evaluations are perceived to have value and are efficient, discuss the following early: (1) how objective evaluations are to be done, (2) which processes and work products will be evaluated, (3) how results of evaluations will be integrated into the team’s rhythms (e.g., as part of daily meetings, checklists, peer reviews, tools, continuous integration, retrospectives). (See “Interpreting CMMI When Using Agile Approaches” in Part I.)

References

Refer to the Verification (VER) (CMMI-DEV) process area for more information about ensuring that selected work products meet their specified requirements.